Maybe it’s just us, but whenever we hear “urban” used as an adjective—urban transplants, urban culture, urban cavemen, etc.—it makes us think of the Urban Sombrero, the fictional invention of the fictional character Elaine Benes from the 1990s sitcom, “Seinfeld.”
Nonetheless, the 360 Degree Urban Windscreen from Jaguar Land Rover adds more than the spirit of old Mexico with a little big city panache; it’s a new system of exterior cameras and video projected onto the windshield to make the vehicle’s roof pillars appear see-through.
In the video provided by Jaguar Land Rover, viewers will see the technology in action. Roof pillars are great for supporting the roof over our heads and creating a safety cage in case of a collision. They’re not so great, however, at providing visibility as the bigger they get, the more they block our view (and thereby protect us).
Jaguar Land Rover thought, “Why not make them transparent?” Better than that, let them remain as they are in most situations, but only appear transparent when we need them to be. For example, this could be whenever you look over your shoulder to check your blind spot. The car senses your head movement and bam, the pillar becomes see-through.
Or maybe you’re surrounded by pedestrians like the driver in the video, and some yokel on his mobile phone starts wandering into the street. Instead of craning forward to make sure you don’t hit the poor sap, the car senses his presence and makes the A-pillars transparent until he can be comfortably seen through the windows.
It’s a cool technology, and extends what Land Rover was doing earlier this year with the transparent front hood. It’s a great example of vehicles solving problems that we lack a solution for, so we’re glad to see it in progress.
To check out a Jaguar for sale in Cary, stop by our showroom any time.